Awards
Reviews
By Alyson Rodriguez/June, 2024
By Chris Becker/2023
By Megan Wilson Krznarich/2023
By Nancy Zastudil/2021
By Anne Bothwell/2018
By Jennifer Smart
By Betsy Lewis/2016
By Anne Bothwell/2014
By Lauren Smart/2014
By Christina Rees/2014
By Colette Copeland/2013
By Anthony Mariani/2012
By Anthony Mariani/2009
By Anthony Mariani/2005
Writings
Art in America: Essay on David-Jeremiah
Catalog Essay: Framing Oak Cliff: A Visual Diary from a Dallas Neighborhood
Patron Magazine Essay: Art Influencers
Catalog Essay: Richard Prince: Selections from The Karpidas Collection
Catalog Essay: Letitia Huckaby, Bitter Waters Sweet
Art in America: Essay on Julie Speed
Nasher Magazine: Sound As Suture
Art in America-Cover story Interview with artist Jammie Holmes
A collection of writings can be found here.
Christopher Blay CV
Education
2003 B.F.A. Studio Art, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
1998 A.A. Fine Art, Tarrant County College, Hurst, TX
Professional Experience
2024 - Present Director of Public Programs, National Juneteenth Museum, Fort Worth
2021 - 2024 - Chief Curator, Houston Museum of African American Culture
2019 - 2021 News Editor, Glasstire Magazine, Houston,TX
2009 - 2019 Curator, Art Corridor Galleries, Tarrant County College Southeast, Arlington, TX
2024 Juror, Sam Houston State University Student Art Exhibition
2024 Guest Lecturer, Afrofuturism, University of Texas, Dallas
2023 In Conversation with William Kentridge, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX 2023 Juror, Art At A Time Like This, Houston, TX
2023 Juror, Nest Heritage Craft Prize, Dallas, TX
2023 Juror, International Center for Photography, New York, NY
2023 Juror Shreveport Regional Art Council’s “Critical Mass 11”, Shreveport, LA
2022
2022 Fotofest, In Conversation With Mark Sealy of Autograph, London
2022 Panel Discussion: Witnessing Worlds in Transition, Menil Collection, Houston, TX 2022 Juror, Voertman Competition, University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design Galleries, Denton, TX
2022 Panel Moderator, Noor Images: Agency and Authorship: Approaches to Visual Storytelling
2021
2021 Juror, Tito’s Prize, Austin, TX 2021 Juror, Society of Photographic Ed
2021 Juror, CADD + Maddrey Prize, Dallas, TX Educators Member Exhibition
2021 Art 101, Meet the Muralists, Panel Moderator, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Selected Awards
2024 Jones Artist Award, Houston Endowment, Houston, TX $5,000
2023 Featured Public Project Award, Artprize, Grand Rapids, MI $20,000
2023 Artist Seed Grant, ArtPrize, Grand Rapids, MI $2,000
2023 The ION Artist Residency, Houston, TX $20,000 award
2023 Runner Up Artist Award, Sculpture, Artprize, Grand Rapids, MI $5,000
2023 The Big Show, Shared Juror’s award, Houston, TX $600
2018 Carter Community Artist, Fort Worth, TX $7,000
2018 Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Grant, Dallas Museum of Art $2,000
2015 Nasher Sculpture Center Grant, Dallas, TX $1,000
2013 Moss Chumley Award, Dallas, TX $2,000
Artist Residency Programs
2023 Artist in Residence, The ION, Houston, TX
2019 Carter Community Artist, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX 2017 Critic-in-Residence, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, TCU, Fort Worth, TX
2017 Artist-in-Residence, Stir Crazy Baked Goods- August
2017 Dallas Museum of Art Visiting artist program April 2017 – June 2017
Public Art Projects
East Rosedale Monument Project, Fort Worth, TX, 2024
Featured Artist project, ArtPrize (2023) (Juror award for sculpture)
Modern Billings Artist Billboard Project, Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth(2016)
Coombs Creek Park, Dallas, TX, 2017
The Ark on Noah St NEA Funded “Activating Vacancy“Initiative, 10thSt. Historic District, Dallas, TX, 2014-2017
Dear House NEA Funded “Activating Vacancy“Initiative, 10thSt. Historic District, Dallas, TX, 2014
Selected Exhibitions (* Solo shows marked by asterisk)
2025 Elemental Currents: Material, Memory, and Myth, Ballroom, Marfa, TX
2024 * Ritual SpLaVCe, Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, TX
2023 *The SpLaVCe Program, ION Building, Houston, TX 2023 The SpLaVCe Program, Marfa, TX
2022 *Christopher Blay: Paintings, Prints, and Collages, 2011 – 2022, The Carillon Gallery, Fort Worth, TX
2022 *Christopher Blay: SpLaVCe Ship, Barry Whistler Gallery, Dallas, TX 2022 Learning to Draw, Barry Whistler Gallery, Dallas, TX
2022 *Future Power: Traps and Targets, Hotel St. George, Marfa, TX
2021 Amarillo Biennial, Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, TX
2021 *Power, Traps, and Targets: New Work by Christopher Blay, Big Medium, Austin, TX
2017 Texas Biennial 17, Big Medium, Austin, TX
2017 *KWTXR UNT on the Square gallery, Denton, TX
2016 *KWTXR South Dallas Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
Curated Exhibitions
2025
David-Jeremiah: The Fire This Time, Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth
2024
Citywide African American Artists Exhibition, MFAH Houston, TX
Phillip Pyle, II: So Far So Good, Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC), Houston, TX
Mami Wata Afrofuturism: 500 Years Back to the [Afro][F]uture, HMAAC
Vernacular Systems: The 2024 CAM Perennial Exhibition, San Antonio, TX
Pervs, Peppers, and the High Chaparral: Michael Abramson’s Chicago South Side Photographs, HMAAC
Bert Long, Jr. Gallery Spring Survey Exhibition, HMAAC
2023
Johnny Floyd: GODBODY, Houston Museum of African American Culture
El Franco Lee II: Mid-Career Survey, Houston Museum of African American Culture
Evita Tezeno: Out of Many, Houston Museum of African American Culture
Ellsworth Ausby: Odyssey, Houston Museum of African American Culture
2022
Negative Women: Four Photographers Questioning Boundaries, Houston Museum of African American Culture
African Cosmologies: Redux (co-curated with Fotofest), Houston Museum of African American Culture
David-Jeremiah: Early Career Survey, Houston Museum of African American Culture
2019
Lillian Young: Redaction, Arlington, TX
2018
Moosh! Art Corridor II, TCC Southeast, Arlington, TX
The YPs: New Photography in Fort Worth, Gallery 76102, Fort Worth, TX
Black Borders: Artists of Color, Reframing CultureFort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Art Collectives: 1990-2015: F6 Collective, Art Corridor II, TCC Southeast, Arlington, TX
Riley Holloway: The Artists, Art Corridor II, TCC Southeast, Arlington, TX